AIRPORT LAYOFFS: Regional Elite Airline Services filed notice with state Tuesday that it plans to lay off 153 employees at Miami International Airport. Company officials could not be reached. According to the notice, the layoffs will be effective Dec. 4-18. Regional Elite Airline Services, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, is based in Minneapolis. The company serves as a ground handler for several airlines, including American Eagle, a subsidiary of American Airlines. American, Miami’s primary air carrier, has announced plans to lay off up to 1,400 workers in South Florida as it restructures to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. An American spokeswoman in Miami did not know whether the layoffs at Regional Elite are related to American’s cutbacks.

BUILDING BRIGHTER FUTURE: Contracts for future construction in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties totaled more than $696 million in August, nearly doubling the $399 million in August 2011, McGraw-Hill Construction’s research and analytics unit reported. Statewide, the total was almost $2.5 billion, up 13% from the prior August. Of the tri-county total, $225 million was for future non-residential construction and $471 for residential. For the year to date, the total gain in the tri-county area has been 54%. But construction employment is far from keeping pace. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows August construction employment for Miami-Dade and Broward at 78,700, down 4.7% from the prior year. Miami-Dade alone had 27,600 working in construction, down 8.9% in a year.

$5 MILLION FOR SAND: Beach nourishment slated for Bal Harbour will cost $5,808,240. The Miami-Dade commission Tuesday agreed to pay its share of the cost by approving Building Better Communities General Obligation Bonds totaling $1,980,900. The payment goes to the US Army Corps of Engineers, which is bidding and overseeing the project between 96th Street and Haulover Inlet. The non-federal share totals $2,904,120, with the Florida Department of Enviromental Protection kicking in $923,219.

EIGHTH DELAY: Last week’s Miami City Commission meeting brought another deferral for the Olympia Building. The city delayed action on management of the affordable housing units atop the historic Olympia Theater at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts for the eighth time since April. City Manager Johnny Martinez requested a deferral for the issue until Oct. 25.